Privacy settings on Facebook empower users to restrict who can view and interact with content on their profile, be it friends, acquaintances, or strangers. This is one of the fundamental rights to understand when navigating Facebook across different devices. While achieving absolute security for your Facebook account is elusive, you can tailor privacy settings to enhance the protection of your information and data. We will now share the best practices for configuring privacy settings for your Facebook account.
Tips for Optimizing Privacy Settings for Your Facebook Account
I. Optimal Privacy Settings for Your Facebook Account
1. Disable Facebook's Tracking Feature
Concerned about data leaks? Disable Facebook's tracking feature through privacy settings.
Step 1: Open the Facebook app, go to Settings & Privacy => Privacy Shortcuts.
Step 2: Scroll down to Your Facebook Information and select View or Clear Your Activity Outside of Facebook.
Step 3: Click on Disconnect future activity and toggle the switch under Future Activity Outside of Facebook.
2. Limit Who Can See Your Posts
When creating a post on Facebook, you have the option to choose who can view it. Your options are Public, Friends, Only Me, or Custom. By default, Facebook sets this option to Friends, but if you want more restriction on your posts, you can change it to your preferred custom settings. This is how many people set privacy settings for their Facebook accounts today.
Step 1: In Privacy Shortcuts, click on Who can see your future posts? and choose the default audience for your future posts.
Step 2: Go back to Privacy, select Limit who can see old posts, and click on Limit past posts.
3. Restrict Access to Your Profile Information
Your Facebook profile contains a lot of information about you such as contact details, interests, and your work history. Setting privacy for your Facebook account is as simple as selecting the amount of information for different groups of people on Facebook.
To modify who can view your profile information, go to your personal Facebook page and click on Edit Profile and choose Edit under the Details section. Once done, click Save.
4. Hide Your Profile from Search Engines
By default, your Facebook profile can be searched by search engines like Google. This means if someone searches for your name, your Facebook account might show up in the results. If you don't want your profile to appear in search results, you can adjust your Facebook privacy settings by hiding your personal profile from search engines.
To hide your profile, go to Privacy Shortcuts. Under How People Can Find and Contact You, select Do you want search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile? and turn off the option Allow search engines outside of Facebook to link to your profile.
5. Disable Facebook's In-App Browser
By default, when you click on links in posts or messages on Facebook, those links open within the Facebook app. However, this isn't a safe way to browse the web as links can contain viruses or malware.
To secure your Facebook account, you can customize settings to open links in your phone's default web browser. To do this, go to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Media. Scroll down and enable the option Open Links Externally.
II. Other ways to set privacy on facebook
1. Set Up Your Birthdate
A seemingly simple issue but often overlooked. When visiting a personal Facebook page, you often see a long list of unverified information posted for 'aesthetic' purposes without considering the potential dangers. Displaying your birthdate on Facebook is completely legal, but in terms of privacy, it's not ideal.
Simply put, many people use their birthdates for bank accounts, mobile phones, or other types of accounts, making it easy for others to know their birthdate. That's why we always advise you to take the first step to set up the safest Facebook privacy settings by hiding your birthdate as follows:
Step 1: Go to your Facebook profile page and click on Intro.
Step 2: In the 'Intro' section, choose Overview.
Step 3: Here you'll see basic information about your birthdate, click on edit.
Step 4: Next, you have the option to customize who can see this information, if you choose only me, Facebook will automatically hide your birthdate.
2. How to set Facebook account to private mode
You have many friends on Facebook, but not all of them you talk to or interact with. Some occasionally contact you, while others don't. Of course, you don't want to unfriend them, you simply want to limit them a bit in terms of permissions to view, search on your personal Facebook page. To do that, we need to set it up in the Settings on Facebook.
Step 1: In the settings section, choose privacy settings.
Step 2: Here you can edit who can view the content on your personal page.
Step 3: Choose from 3 levels: Everyone, Friends, or Only You.
Step 4: Below is contacts, applicable to individuals wanting to connect with you.
Step 5: And finally, set personal information on Facebook's search system, if you turn off this feature, no one can search for you on Facebook at all.
3. Manage Timeline and Tagging
Managing your timeline allows users to direct content they want to post on Facebook for who can see and who cannot see, this is the best way to set up Facebook privacy settings when even your friends may not be allowed to see the private data you post. As for tagging, it allows your friends to tag you in a post, a photo, or an event, with the tagging feature you should consider carefully as it greatly affects the information you receive from friends.
To set up, we go to Settings, similar to the above steps.
Step 1: Click on the Timeline and Tagging section.
Step 2: The first edit allows someone, your friends, to post any status on your timeline.
Step 3: In this option, you can customize whether friends or only you are allowed.
Step 4: Next is the content on your timeline, this limits privacy intrusion when only friends or you are allowed to see what you post.
Step 5: Lastly, manage tagging by disabling others from automatically tagging you in a page, group on Facebook.
4. Block Users on Facebook
Another way to enhance your privacy and personal security is to block individuals who are bothering you. They won't be able to contact you or view your Facebook content.
There are many settings available in the block management section, not just for a specific Facebook user, but also for fan pages, groups, or friend requests, all of which can be configured in the Block section.
Step 1: Simply enter the username and press Block, everything will be removed.
Step 2: Alternatively, use the restricted list to limit interactions with people on Facebook who are less interactive with you. Essentially, they won't see you, but mutual tagged links will still be visible.
Step 3: You just have to search for someone 'annoying' and Finish it.
5. Be cautious with linked applications
Facebook allows users to link with third-party applications, integrated apps such as Youtube, Instagram, Zalo, or Twitter, or other app applications. If they are popular sites like Youtube, Instagram, we can rest assured, but if it's apps that require personal information when linking, if you don't pay attention, it's very dangerous.
Although these apps always attract users with their unique content. Therefore, you need to consider carefully before linking any application.
Thus, Mytour has guided 5 best ways to set up privacy for your Facebook account, helping to secure your personal information, protecting you from prying eyes. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below.
If you want to change your Facebook name before 60 days, there's still a way. Simply submit your ID card or equivalent identification documents, and you can easily change your Facebook name before 60 days. However, you can only change it to the exact name on the document you submitted.
Currently, live streaming video on Facebook is a popular feature among users. If you're unsure how to do it, check out the article on how to live stream video on Facebook to learn how to do it on both your computer and popular smartphones like iPhone, Samsung, Oppo, or LG.